1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hidden locking mechanism for furniture that includes a pivoting locking bar that locks and unlocks a lid of the furniture in response to the horizontal movement of a sliding leg provided on the furniture. When viewed from outside the furniture, the bar is not visible and the leg appears to be fixed and unmovable so that it is not obvious how to unlock the lid of the furniture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Furniture pieces that include a compartment for storing items often are provided with a lock so that the compartment cannot be opened by unauthorized persons, thereby protecting the contents of the compartment from theft or unwanted access. Normally the lock employed is either a keyed lock or a combination lock.
The problem with the use of a keyed lock is that the key can become misplaced or damaged so that it is not available when access to the compartment is desired. Also, combinations to combination locks can be forgotten or misplaced or can fall into the hands of unauthorized persons if the combination is recorded in some manner, such as via a note or in a computer.
The present invention addresses this problem by providing a secret, hidden locking mechanism that is easy for the authorized person to remember and use without the need for any other information or tools, while still providing a secure and hard to discover means of locking and unlocking the compartment against access by unauthorized persons.